Most MP3 players require the use of headphones in order for the user to listen to music. Thus, these devices typically do not have any built-in (internal) speakers and so are designed for use with headphones. The headphones are typically connected to the MP3 player by way of a jack plug and a length of flexible cable.
Furthermore, many devices such as mobile telephones, tablet computers, laptop computers and desktop computers have internal speakers, but nevertheless benefit greatly from the use of headphones. Such devices are often used to play music, and can also be used to display films, television programmes and games. The internal speakers which are fitted to such devices are often of low quality and whilst they may be suitable for voice communication they do not reproduce music or other media with an acceptable sound quality. Also, the user will often wish to listen to music without disturbing others, so that the use of headphones is necessary. Accordingly, the manufacturers of mobile telephones and the like will typically provide an audio socket to receive the jack plug of a set of headphones, even if the device has an internal speaker.
The present invention can be utilised with any personal media device having an audio socket for headphones, whether or not the device has an internal speaker.
For example, the present invention can be used with MP3 players, MP4 players, mobile telephones, tablet computers, laptop computers, desktop computers, CD players, DVD players, Bluray players, TV sets, AM/FM/DAB radios, guitar amplifiers and video games consoles (for example).
As indicated above, the headphones are connected to the personal media device by a length of flexible cable, the flexible cable terminating in a jack plug (of standard form) which can be inserted into the audio socket (also of standard form) of the device. The cable will often be around one meter long, permitting the user to use the headphones whilst carrying the device in a waist pocket or the like.
Headphones fall into two broad classes which are distinguished by the size and shape of their earpieces. The first class has two cup-shaped earpieces, each of which is designed to be placed against the user's head and surround a respective ear. The earpieces are typically mounted upon a support which fits over the user's head. The second class has much smaller earpieces, each of which is designed to fit snugly into a user's ear. Headphones in the second class are often referred to as in-ear headphones, earphones or earbuds. The present invention has been designed for use with in-ear headphones, and the following description will therefore relate to this class. It will be understood, however, that the invention could also be used with the first class of headphones if desired.
The known in-ear headphones have a number of known disadvantages. Firstly, when not in use the flexible cable will often become entangled during storage, requiring the user to untangle the cable before the headphones can be used. The likelihood of entanglement could be reduced by reducing the flexibility of the cable but that option is seldom adopted as a more flexible cable makes the headphones far easier to manipulate and use once they have been untangled.
Secondly, the electrical signal wire within the cable can become damaged during storage, or during the untangling procedure, with the signal wire of a tangled cable perhaps being bent around curves with very small radii of curvature. Over time, such damage can become irrevocable, i.e. the signal wire can break.
Another problem arises because each earpiece of a pair of in-ear headphones requires its own signal wire. This problem does not typically arise with the first class of headphones as a single cable carrying both signal wires can be connected to one of the earpieces and a signal wire can be passed along the support to the other earpiece. However, since in-ear headphones do not utilise a support each earpiece must be connected directly to the jack plug.
Notwithstanding the requirement for two separate signal wires, the manufacturers of in-ear headphones have appreciated that the signal wires can be connected together for much of their length, whereby to reduce slightly the likelihood of the separate signal wires becoming entangled. The in-ear headphones' cable therefore typically has a general Y-shape, with two separate earpiece cables each carrying a single signal wire meeting at the junction (or “splitter”) of the “Y”, and a single jack plug cable running from the splitter to the jack plug which carries both signal wires.
The two earpiece cables are typically of smaller cross-section than the jack plug cable, and are usually very flexible. Their small cross-sectional dimension, and their significant flexibility, results in the earpiece cables being the most likely to become entangled and damaged during a typical storage and subsequent untangling procedure. Accordingly, it is desirable to minimise the length of the earpiece cables. However, the earpiece cables must be sufficiently long to permit all users easily and conveniently to position each of the earpieces in a respective ear, with the attached cables being sufficiently long that the headphones are comfortable to use. There is therefore a compromise between reducing the length of the separate earpiece cables so as to reduce the likelihood of entanglement and damage, and increasing the length of the separate earpiece cables so as to increase the ease of use and comfort of the user.
As an example, a known set of in-ear headphones has a cable with a total length of around 120 cm, and earpiece cables with a length of around 35 cm. Such a cable therefore has a total earpiece cable length of around 70 cm, the earpiece cable being very thin and very flexible, and being easily tangled during storage. It can be very difficult and time consuming subsequently to untangle the earpiece cables. The jack plug cable of this known cable has a length of around 85 cm and is also thin and flexible, the jack plug cable contributing significantly to the overall likelihood of entanglement. It will be understood that the stated lengths are representative, and in-ear headphones having longer and shorter cable lengths are also known, as are in-ear headphones with a greater and lesser proportion of their total length taken up by the earpiece cables.
It is known to provide a movable keeper to hold the separate earpiece cables together, the keeper being a loop surrounding both of the earpiece cables. The user can slide the keeper towards the earpieces whereby to reduce the effective free length of the separate cables, and alternatively can slide the keeper away from the earpieces whereby to increase the effective free length. Such a keeper can slightly reduce the likelihood of entanglement during storage, but is usually only partially successful. Thus, it is necessary for the user to slide the keeper to a suitable position along the separate earpiece cables before the cable is wound up for storage, and only the most diligent of users will routinely do this. Often, the keeper will be slid away from the earpieces during use, perhaps close to the splitter where the earpiece cables join with the jack plug cable, and will not be moved before the in-ear headphones are stored, so that it will have little or no benefit in reducing the likelihood of entanglement.
Prior art documents U.S. 2005/0069147, WO 20012/064669 and U.S. 2012/0045084 seek to reduce the disadvantage of the above-stated compromise by forming the earpiece cables with a series of interconnecting formations so that the two earpiece cables have the form of a zip fastener and can therefore be interconnected and disconnected as desired.
There is another problem associated with headphone and earphone cables, which these prior art documents do not address. Specifically, there in no easy way to store the cables during the periods when they are not in use. Many users will simply collect up the cable and store it in a pocket, for example (or perhaps in a drawer if the period of non-use is expected to be longer). More diligent users may wind up the cable prior to storage. The collecting up and/or winding up of the cable increases the likelihood that the cable will become entangled, even if the earpiece cables have been interconnected by use of the zip-fastener arrangements of the prior art.